Factors that affect childrearing among Asian Indian parents in New Jersey and New York
Abstract
Knowledge of the childrearing practices of Asian Indian parents is minimal due to the neglect of the Asian Indian population in empirical research. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of parental and social determinants on childrearing among Asian Indian parents. A secondary data analysis was conducted on the Asian Indian sub-sample (N=211) of the Survey of Asian American Families (SAAF: 2011–2014) data. Childrearing was measured through four types of parenting behaviors: nurturance, emotional harsh treatment, physical harsh treatment, and at-risk abuse. The four types of childrearing practices were regressed on five predictors: parenting stress, parent belief in physical discipline, partner support, family support, and friends support. Regression analyses revealed that parent’s nurturance of children was improved by family support while emotional harsh treatment, physical harsh treatment, and at-risk abuse of children were increased by parent’s belief in physical discipline. Among social support variables, family support seems to exert greater positive effect on childrearing than partner support or friends support among Asian Indian parents. Mediation analysis showed that parenting self-efficacy acted as a mediator between family support and nurturance of children. These findings are important given the lack of literature about the determinants of Asian Indian parents’ nurturing practices as well as harsh treatments of their children. The findings have implications for social work practice and policy interventions that address the needs of a growing immigrant minority population.
Subject Area
Asian American Studies|Individual & family studies|Ethnic studies
Recommended Citation
Mathew, Sunny, "Factors that affect childrearing among Asian Indian parents in New Jersey and New York" (2016). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10153628.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10153628
